As the U.S. stock market suffered the worst downfall in the last three decades on Monday, the Asian market showed mixed trends throughout the week. However, the latest market indexes in the Asia Pacific region revealed a bearish trend as fears of the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Tump trying to calm Wall Street chaos
On Monday, March 16, Wall Street suffered a 12% drop in its S&P 500 index, which prompted the government to set up quick economic interventions.
To overcome the COVID-19 health crisis, US President Donald Trump issued a stimulus package, promising financial aid to the U.S. economy worth US$1 trillion [AU$1.7 trillion] in order to keep things going amid the pandemic. This comes with a series of direct payments to all Americans starting as early as April 6.
Earlier this week on March 15, the Federal Reserve also decided to cut interest rates to zero percent to curb the economic impact of the recent health crisis.
The Asia-Pacific region finance market turmoil
However, despite all this, the Dow Jones index continues to drop.
At the time of writing, NYSE has dropped points to -1,869.01 and the S&P 500 has plunged to 8.5% in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 2,018 points to 19,353, whereas Nasdaq’s total decline has been 7.2% in the past 24 hours trading time.
The U.S. market plunge has had a massive impact on the Asian stock market. Recent stock indexes in Asia also closed heavily in red, indicating a bearish trend:
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 JP:NIK: -1%
- South Korea’s Kospi KR:180721: -6.5%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HK:HSI: -2.4%
- Shanghai Composite index CN:SHCOMP: -0.8%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 AU:XJO: -3.4%
- India’s Sensex IN:1: -2.7%
- Taiwan’s TPE: TAIEX: -5.8%
- Philippines’ PSE:PSEI: -13.34%
US already in recession, experts say
The recent 12% drop in its S&P 500 index heralds a warning that a recession is likely to be imminent. Trump expressed his concerns about this, claiming that the US “may suffer a recession.”
However, according to experts, the US is indeed already in recession.
Former director of the U.S. National Economic Council Gary Cohn and economist Alan Blinder both believe that the United States is already in recession. Economists from Bank of America also share the Cohn’s and Blinder’s sentiments. In a statement, economist Michelle Meyer said:
“We believe that the US economy has fallen into recession, joining the rest of the world, and it is a deep plunge [. . .] The salvation will come if there is a targeted and aggressive policy response to offset the loss of economic activity and ensure a sound financial system.”
Lockdowns affecting economy
As the coronavirus has swiftly taken across the globe, businesses have started to temporarily shut down.
With over 179 countries affected by COVID-19 pandemic, almost all the nations have issued a lockdown, with limited transport and only essential businesses at work.
The global economy has faced a major setback. Analysts are predicting stock markets to further follow the bearish trend as things may get worse in days to come.